World Petroleum Congress kicks off in Istanbul

By Dilara Zengin and Ebru Sengul

ISTANBUL (AA) - The 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC), the largest meeting of the oil and gas industry, opened in Istanbul on Sunday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Jozsef Laszlo Toth, president of the World Petroleum Council, said the challenges in the petroleum sector were growing as world population increased and economic development brought a large number of consumers to the market.

Oil and natural gas remain the world's leading energy resources for decades to come, Toth added.

"Meeting future energy demand safely and environment-friendly will require massive investment, technology, the highest skilled human resources and superior ethical business practices," he underlined.

Toth noted that energy corridors play an important role to secure the safe and economically viable access to markets from hydrocarbon to reach regions especially from Central Asia and from the Middle East.

"The Turkish government has been making efforts to create new corridors. High-level executives, international organizations and government leaders, experts from all areas of the industry, researchers, academia, NGOs, students and society representatives are gathered here to collectively analyze and determine the future of the petroleum sector," he said.

The congress will also strongly focus on engaging young professionals in the industry, he added.

"As we all know, in many countries, the number of young people joining the energy industry is declining," he said

Between July 9-13, High-level executives from leading energy companies and up to 50 energy ministers will be attending the congress, of which the theme is "Bridges to our Energy Future".